On the afternoon of Oct 30, Guests from British missionary Rev. Griffith John's hometown, Swansea City, visited Wuhan Rongguang Christian Church to commemorate the contribution he made to Wuhan Gospel Ministry. The pastoral workers at Rongguang Church welcomed the guests and took a group photo to mark the occasion.
According to Wuhan Rongguang Christian Church, Rongguang Christian Church was established in 1931, and it used to belong to the London Missionary Society. The original name of the church was Griffith John Church. It was in commemoration of the 100th birthday of Rev. Griffith John, who was the first British missionary in Wuhan, and the 70th anniversary of his ministry in China. The church was named Rongguang Church in 1951 and became one the first churches with union worship in Wuhan. During the Cultural Revolution, the church ceased holding services like other churches. On Nov 30, 1980, it was the first church to resume services in Hubei Province.
In 1861, Hankou was reserved as a trading port. Rev. Griffith John (Reverend of London Missionary Society of Christianity) came to Hankou in June 1861. He first started preaching in the neighborhood of Dajia Street and Hanzheng Street in Hankou. He established the Gospel Church in Taiping Alley (next door to the current Ye Kaitai Pharmacy).
Rev. Griffith John was the first Christian missionary that went into Central China and he preached there for over 5 decades. With his active campaign, the pastoral affairs increasingly developed. In 1880, with the support of the English businessmen, he purchased a large tract of land near the Houhualou neighborhood with 2500 silver dollars. At the old site of the original Siming Bank, they built a one-storey church that would hold 300 people as the missionary activity center, and named it "Hualou Zongtang." It was the predecessor of the Griffith John Church.
